Risk Behaviors and Perceptions Among Self-identified Men Who Have Sex with Men (MSM), Bisexuals, Transvestites, and Transgender Women in Western Guatemala

Abstract

Guatemala has a concentrated HIV epidemic disproportionately affecting men who have sex with men (MSM) and transgender women. We recruited 205 self-identified MSM, bisexuals, transvestites, and transgender women in western Guatemala using long-chain peer referral, wherein “seed” participants were asked to invite as many as three acquaintances to participate in the study. Self-reported sexual or gender identity was MSM, 46%; bisexual, 28%; transvestite, 21%, and transgender woman, 5%. Median age of the participants was 23 years, and 36% self-identified as being indigenous. Indigenous persons were more likely to self-identity as transvestite (32.9% vs 13.8%, P = 0.04), strongly perceive themselves at risk for HIV (87.7% vs 51.5%, P = 0.001), have had an HIV test in the last 12 months and know the result (97.3% vs 85.4%, P = 0.008), and experience barriers to testing and treatment (86.3% vs 67.7%, P = 0.004). HIV prevention services for indigenous MSM should especially target transvestites and how to overcome stigmatization and barriers to care.

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Acknowledgements

We wish to acknowledge support from the University of California, San Francisco’s International Traineeships in AIDS Prevention Studies (ITAPS), U.S. NIMH, R25MH064712. We also wish to acknowledge all the participants who gave of their time for the study, as well as HIVOS Guatemala and the community-based organizations who contributed. We thank Josué Benjamin Moya Montes, Ana Lapara and Alma Citalán from the Association IDEI for their dedication supervising and coordinating the data collection.

Funding

This study was funded by the Investigation, Development and Integral Education Association.

Compliance with Ethical Standards

Conflict of interest

All authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical Approval

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

Informed Consent

Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.